Chapter Nine:

Anna's reaction was about what could be expected. She regarded Yugi with mouth agape before spluttering, "Are you *insane*?"

Yugi put his hand against his stomach. He felt the swelling easily now; it was bigger than it had been even since he had his first ultrasound. It further confirmed the presence of a living, growing fetus. A baby. His baby.

"I can't do it," Yugi said quietly. "Not anymore. Did you hear the heartbeat? Did you see the face? How can I?"

Anna stared at Yugi again before reaching out and putting her hand on his arm. "That was unprofessional of me to say that and I apologize. But, Yugi, you can't be serious. You have to think rationally."

"I am serious," Yugi said. He wasn't sure if he was thinking rationally.

"Yugi, you can't have this baby," Anna said. "It's not just a matter of if you should, you can't. No matter how this happened-and I'd still like to know how-you aren't designed to have a baby."

"You said it was possible, an abdominal ectopic."

Anna sighed and removed her hand, sitting back on her stool. "It is. But it's dangerous. For the baby and you. And it's possible for a woman. Probably not you."

Yugi rubbed his stomach, looking around anxiously. Was he being stupid? Maybe he couldn't do this. What was he thinking? He'd come here to have an abortion, and he should just do it. But he couldn't. The image of the small face on the screen kept popping up into his mind. He'd seen his child. How could he abort it?

"I can't abort," he said. "I can't kill my baby."

Anna stared into his face. Yugi raised his eyes and looked back, letting her know his decision was made. She frowned, then looked resigned.

"Okay. I'm certainly not going to force you."

"Thank you," Yugi said weakly.

He felt sick and anxious in a way that had nothing to do with the morning sickness he was hopefully past. This was the biggest decision he had ever made and he hoped it wasn't the wrong decision.

Yugi sighed and closed his eyes. No, it wasn't the wrong decision. He realized, as worried as he was, he felt so much better after having made it. A weight had been lifted off his heart he hadn't even been aware of until now. He knew it was the right decision. It just wasn't going to be easy or safe.

Yugi sat up and swung his legs over the side of the exam table.

"Where are you going?" Anna asked.

"Home, I guess."

"But you haven't talked to Kentaro yet."

Surprised, Yugi said, "But I don't need to. I'm not having the abortion. And I won't change my mind."

"I'm not going to try to talk you into it, or scare you into it. What you need now, if you're going to go through with this, is advice, knowledge of the risks, and especially prenatal care. Yugi, you'll be very high risk, so it's absolutely essential you get all the care you can."

"Kuribyashi isn't an obstetrician."

"He's not a surgeon either. As a doctor he has knowledge of how to deliver a baby. He has access to supplies and equipment won't. Anything he may not know, he can research or ask an obstetrician. He can call it hypothetical curiosity and get an answer much sooner than you can."

Yugi nodded slowly. He started getting dressed, while Anna turned off the ultrasound and put away her equipment. Fully clothed, Yugi hoisted himself back onto the exam table, using it as a bench. Anna had a point. Kuribayashi would be able to find out things he couldn't, and without drawing undue attention to himself.

"You really don't think I'm making a good decision, do you?"

"No," Anna said bluntly. "But I understand it, now. It's ma…parental instinct."

Yugi knew she'd been about to say maternal, but he ignored that. Staring at the floor, he considered going to Kuribayashi. She was right; he would be able to give the baby the care Yugi couldn't. It was essential. Anna herself could help with questions, but she wouldn't be able to give Yugi any vitamins, monitoring, or whatever else he'd need. Yugi didn't have the first clue.

"Okay. When do we go to him?"

"As soon as possible. You're already into your second trimester. Can you come tomorrow? Kentaro has a break from two to three. We'll talk to him in his office."

Yugi agreed, though his mouth felt dry with dread. He'd had one miracle already that Anna had accepted this whole thing and decided to help him, rather than throw him out or go to the press. Could he really rely on a second miracle that Kuribayashi would act the same way?

Well, Kuribayashi had been his doctor for a few weeks now, and Yugi had always felt calm and in good hands in his company. He thought the doctor was genuinely a good man, and sincere as a doctor. He believed he could trust him, and Anna, and he was often a good judge of character.

The images of Seto, Mokuba, Weevil, Mako, Bakura, "Namu" who had turned out to be Marik Ishtar, and the fortune teller that had turned out to be Bandit Keith all turning against him flooded his mind. Okay, so usually he was a good judge of character. Besides, though they had all attacked him at one point or another after playing nice to get under his guard, everyone but Weevil and Bandit Keith really had turned out to be nice people. Even Joey had once been a violent street thug and Yugi had believed in him. And Joey and Seto had turned out fine.

He'd tell Kuribayashi.

"Okay. I'll be here tomorrow at two."

Later that night, as Yugi was typing up his first homework assignment from one of his classes, a soft ding drew his attention. An icon in the bottom right of his screen was blinking, telling him he had a video connection from Seto. Pleased, Yugi eagerly clicked on the icon, connecting to his webcam and bringing up the video chat.

"Hi, Seto!" he said cheerfully as the brunette's face appeared on the screen. His computer had come from Seto, and as such was state-of-the-art. Seto's face was almost as clear as if he was peering in through a window.

"Hello, Yugi," Seto said in return.

Yugi studied Seto's face. This was the first time he'd gotten to talk to him since his plane had first landed in Chicago a couple days ago. Because of the huge time difference, fourteen hours, getting time to chat was going to be difficult. Therefore, after Seto had called to tell him the plane had made it safely, they hadn't spoken until now. Seto looked tired, and as Yugi glanced at the clock, he saw that it was nine-thirty. It was only seven-thirty the previous morning in Chicago, and Seto had probably just finished his breakfast.

"How are the meetings going?" Yugi asked, knowing that Seto despised shareholders meetings… or anything to do with other people, really.

Sure enough, a faint dark look crossed the blue eyes, but all Seto said was, "Fine."

"Is the new game Pegasus was supposed to show all of you interesting?"

Seto paused in thought for a moment. Yugi knew he wasn't allowed to talk about it much, because it was not yet available to the public, or even really in production at the moment, but he knew Seto was supposed to have seen it at the meeting the previous day.

"It's… more for little children than most of Pegasus' inventions."

Yugi smiled. "That sounds nice. Is Kaiba Corp going to be in on it?"

"I haven't decided. It's not really something Kaiba Corp typically has stake in."

"Does Pegasus need your virtual technology?"

"Not so much need as want." Seto smirked a little. Yugi knew he enjoyed the fact that Duel Monsters had doubled its popularity thanks to his virtual technology making the monsters jump out into realistic three-dimensions instead of staying as cards on a board. Yugi wondered if Duel Monsters would have been the phenomenon it had been if it had stayed just a board game. True, it had been very popular in America and Japan both as a board game, but it seemed *everyone* knew and played the game after the Duel Discs had hit the market.

There was also the fact that no one had managed to make a virtual technology hologram projector with the efficiency and realism of Seto's personal invention. All of the game designers envied Seto's invention and many wanted partnerships with him to use that technology to improve their games and their profits.

"Doesn't that give you a negotiations advantage?" Yugi asked.

Seto's smirk widened. Yugi grinned back.

"How's Chicago?" Yugi asked.

"Windy."

Yugi laughed at the joke. "You don't have any meetings today, right? You should take the time to look around, enjoy the city."

Seto nodded noncommittally. Yugi sighed, knowing Seto was far more likely to spend his time on his computer, managing Kaiba Corp overseas. He had put his Director of Resources in charge since Mokuba was at school, but Yugi knew he wouldn't be able to allow himself to believe in the man, and do things all by himself. Even though he was now over twenty-one, he was still the same driven, distrustful, do-it-himself person. He didn't know how to relax unless Yugi was there to make him.

Yugi filled Seto in on his classes, and then, as he knew it would, the subject was turned to his health.

"I'm fine, Seto. I haven't been sick in a week."

Seto studied him through the camera. "So, it's all over now?" His voice implied he wasn't buying it.

Yugi shook his head. "No. I'm seeing Kuribayashi tomorrow."

"What for?"

Yugi hesitated. "Talk to him about an X-ray. I couldn't go last time I had an appointment… I felt too sick." Yugi felt horrible lying to him, but he had to tell him something.

Seto frowned, and Yugi leaned forward, smiling brightly. "Don't worry about it, Seto. I told you I'd tell you if anything bad happened. I promise. Enjoy your time in Chicago! Go eat a deep-dish pizza and a twinkie for me."

Yugi managed to coax a smile out of Seto. They chatted a little longer, then Yugi said good night.

"I miss you, Seto. Have a good day. I love you."

Seto reached forward to turn off his camera. Just before the screen went dark, he raised his gaze and said, "I love you, too."

Yugi smiled, shaking his head affectionately as he turned off his own webcam. Seto would always be Seto.

Sitting back in his chair, Yugi looked down at his stomach. He raised his shirt, and looked at the small swollen bump just below his belly button. He put his hand over it and closed his eyes.

'Okay, baby,' he thought. 'I made my decision to keep you. Do me a favor: stay healthy for me.'

It wasn't until Yugi had opened his eyes and reached to start back on his homework that he realized he had made a mental change, too. The baby had gone from being a fetus to a child. He was even talking to it now.

...

Yugi stepped out of his car the next afternoon and looked at the small, tasteful sign to the right of the entrance that was the only indication of the practice. All day since he'd woken that morning he'd been feeling a consistent, low-grade anxiety that was now raising so fast his palms were sweaty. He shut his car door, wondering if he'd ever come here without feeling like he was going to puke from nerves.

'At least I'm not puking from morning sickness anymore,' he thought.

He had his link to Yami closed, as he had for the last few days. This wasn't much of a strange occurrence. Now that they had separate lives-and separate lovers-it had quickly become prudent for them to get into the habit of having the link shut. Yugi had not told either Yugi or Joey that he was keeping the baby. He worried about their reactions almost as much as he did about Seto's. He knew they would support him, but he also knew they would worry themselves sick… which he supposed they had already been doing when he'd just thought he was ill.

'I've never had a secret as big as this,' he thought ruefully as he walked across the parking lot and entered the practice.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Moto," the receptionist said as he stepped inside the deserted waiting room. "Um, I don't have you down for an appointment."

"I'm just here to talk to Anna for a moment."

The receptionist looked surprised, but she was too professional to pry. She immediately picked up her phone and dialed Anna to come to the waiting room. A minute later, the ultrasound technician arrived. She smiled tightly at Yugi, though it was from nerves rather than dislike. She was holding a folder in one hand, which Yugi supposed was his own.

"Hi, Yugi. Okay, right this way. Thanks, Miyuki."

Anna held open the door into the hallway for Yugi, and they started towards Kuribayashi's office at the back. There was no one in the hallway, and all of the exam room doors were open, indicating there were no patients in the practice, even with three doctors working out of it.

"How are you feeling, Yugi?"

"Fine. I think I am past the morning sickness."

"Good, I thought you might be. Start your cravings yet?"

"My what? You mean the pickles and ice cream thing? No."

Anna smiled sweetly. Then they had arrived at Kuribayashi's office, on the center side of a T-section end of the hallway. She reached up and knocked on the closed hardwood door. Kuribayashi answered from the inside.

"Yes?"

"Kentaro, it's Anna. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, come in."

Anna opened the door, then ushered Yugi in, whispering, "Just relax."

Yugi stepped into the office, heart pounding. Kuribayashi was bent over a form, filling it out in unusually neat, clear script. He didn't look up when Yugi stepped in with Anna.

"What did you need to talk about, Anna?"

"Yugi's here, Kentaro."

Kuribayashi looked up in surprise. "Yugi. What are you doing here, are you okay?"

Yugi nodded, then shook his head. "Um, not exactly. I needed to talk to you."

Looking definitely confused and concerned, Kuribayashi picked up the form and slid it into a folder, turning to a black file cabinet behind him and slipping the folder into the drawer marked G-J. Closing the drawer, he turned back around in his chair, then got to his feet. There was a stethoscope around his neck, and he reached for it.

"What seems to be the problem? Have you had any worsening of symptoms, or had any new ones manifest?"

Such was his commitment to his patients that he didn't seem the least bit upset Yugi had interrupted his private time without warning.

"No, I'm fine. Actually, uh, Anna and I know what's wrong."

Surprised, Kuribayashi sat on the edge of his desk, gesturing for them to sit. Yugi took one of the two chairs in front of the desk, but Anna didn't sit. Instead, she stood behind him, in a position to offer support, and waited for him to elaborate. Yugi found his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth again.

"Well?" Kuribayashi asked, but without rancor. "If you know what it is, why didn't you inform me?"

"I… wanted to keep it off record," Yugi whispered.

Kuribayashi's eyebrow rose, and his expression hardened. Yugi's pulse rate went up again. "Is there something I should know? I don't know how it could be, but if this involves something illegal, or-"

"Hear him out, Kentaro, and you'll know why. Go on, Yugi, tell him. It'll be okay."

Yugi swallowed, his mouth so dry he heard an audible click. He felt Anna put his hand on his shoulder and squeeze reassuringly. Taking a deep breath, he looked Kuribayashi in the face and said, "I've been having nausea, vomiting, weight gain, and fatigue…"

"Right."

"…and mood swings and all… because I'm pregnant."

Kentaro Kuribayashi stared at Yugi for a full minute. Expecting this need to take a moment and assimilate, Yugi said nothing, just held his gaze.

"I-I'm sorry, what?"

Anna took over. She stepped out from behind the chair. "That's what I said." She opened the folder and pulled out a glossy, black-and-gray picture. Yugi stared, realizing she was holding a picture from the ultrasound. He hadn't realized she'd taken one. Anna handed it to Kuribayashi, adding, "I couldn't believe it either, until I saw it."

Kuribayashi took the sonogram and turned it square. He studied the image, then looked up. His non-expression was reminiscent of someone who was so confused, he just didn't know what to think.

"What is this?"

"That's Yugi's ultrasound, Kentaro. I know, it's hard to wrap your head around. But, look, you can see it." She stepped beside him, reaching out to point at the center of the picture. "There. Fourteen weeks, give or take. Yugi was coming to you suffering from the effects of his first trimester. Morning sickness, fatigue… the baby's beginning to grow, so he's starting to put on the weight…"

"Is this a joke?"

Yugi swallowed, then leaned back against the chair back enough to thrust out his stomach and pulled up his shirt. Kuribayashi's gaze fell to the faint distension just beginning to protrude.

"See?" Yugi said softly, lowering his shirt. "It's bigger than when you felt my stomach a month ago."

"This isn't a joke, Kentaro," Anna said. "I thought it was at first, too. I thought you and Yugi had pulled a fast one on me for some reason. But it's real. The baby's there, right there, in his abdomen. It looks to be abdominal ectopic-"

"Sex change?"

Yugi gagged. "No!"

"No," Anna agreed, though the faintest smile twitched her lips. "Believe me, Yugi's full male. I thought something like that too, at first, but he's a boy. No uterus or ovaries, no surgery scars, full… ah… masculine package."

Yugi felt his cheeks burn furiously. He looked at his lap, where his hands were now clasped together.

"Then how did this happen?"

"That's what we can't figure out."

"No, no, if you want me to believe this, there has to be some explanation."

"There's not," Anna said with a shrug as Yugi looked back up. "He's male, always been a male, and there's a baby in his abdominal cavity. That's all I can tell you, all he can tell you."

Kuribayashi's gaze went to Yugi. His expression was still hard.

"It's true," Yugi said. "I felt sick, and I came to you, and Anna gave me an ultrasound, and… the baby was there."

"Well, you told me you took a pregnancy test."

Kuribayashi raised an eyebrow. Yugi coughed, blushing. "It's true." He quickly told him about the computer program and the diagnosis, then fretting about it and finally getting the pregnancy test. "And I know how stupid it was. The irony was, I took it to prove to myself how stupid it was."

Anna smiled again. Kuribayashi looked down at the ultrasound sonogram again, then got to his feet. "Come on, let's go to the ultrasound room."

Yugi understood that Kuribayashi had to see for himself. He got up without question and trooped with them down the hall to the ultrasound examination room. He dutifully removed his shirt and sat on the exam table. But first, Kuribayashi sat on the stool and wheeled it closer, holding up his stethoscope. He had Yugi lay back and then he placed the stethoscope against Yugi's abdomen, putting the buds in his ears and moving the scope around. Yugi watched his face and knew by his expression when he heard the horse-gallop sound of the baby's heartbeat.

He sat back on the stool with a jerk, letting the scope fall against his chest while he reached up to remove the buds. Anna had been preparing the ultrasound machine and now she squirted some of the gel against Yugi's belly. The cold and slimy lubricant was still as distasteful as previous, but Yugi looked eagerly at the screen. Standing on the other side of the exam table, leaning over Yugi to look at the screen clearly, Anna moved the wand across his abdomen until the baby appeared.

Curled up, pale against the dark background, eyes closed and chin to chest. Yugi stared at the picture in wonder. Kuribayashi did as well, though in another sense. His mouth hung open.

"See?" Anna said. "It's a trip, isn't it?"

Kuribayashi leaned closer to the monitor, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Anna moved the wand, making a wider circle sweep across his abdomen.

"No uterus. As you can see here, the baby appears to be an abdominal ectopic attached to his liver. It appears to be getting sufficient nutrients. Judging by our best guess, the fetus appears to be about fourteen weeks gestational age."

Kuribayashi was still staring at the image with his mouth open. Then he sat back and rubbed his eyes. "Okay… okay."

"Right," Anna said with a smile. She removed the wand. Yugi had to stop himself telling her not to. He wanted to keep staring at his baby.

Anna put away the equipment and handed Yugi a rag to wipe his stomach. She leaned against a counter, arms folded and ankles crossed.

Kuribayashi lowered his hand and let out his breath. "Okay. I can see why you wanted to keep this private. You have no idea how this happened?"

Anna and Yugi shook their heads in tandem. "How could we?" Anna added. "He's a male and he's pregnant."

Yugi rubbed the rag across his abdomen, not meeting their eyes.

"Well, okay, I guess the next thing it to schedule-"

"He's not having an abortion."

Kuribayashi stared at Yugi in surprise again. Yugi looked up and nodded emphatically. "Right. I want to keep it."

"But… Yugi… that's-"

"I know. It's crazy. Probably stupid. But I can't. I've seen its face! I've heard its heartbeat. This isn't a tumor, it's my baby!"

"Parental instinct," Anna said with a smile.

Kuribayashi blinked, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay… I guess. But, Yugi, be reasonable."

"Don't try to talk me into it! I've been thinking about it for two weeks. I made my decision."

Kuribayashi looked from Yugi to Anna. "And… the reason you came to tell me…?"

"We want you to be Yugi's obstetrician, yes."

"But-"

"Come on, Kentaro. You're a doctor. You've taken gynecology."

"Well, yes, but…"

"Please," Yugi whispered. "I can't go to anyone else. If I do, they'll be all over me. Reporters, scientists… crazy people. I swear, Kuribayashi, this is all true. Somehow… I'm pregnant. And I need your help. I believe you're a good doctor and a good man. I know I can trust you."

Kuribayashi stared at him uncertainly, but Yugi could see that his words had their affect on the doctor. He made a noise of indecision. Yugi looked at him pleadingly.

"Okay," Kuribayashi said with a sigh. "Okay. All right. You say you're about fourteen weeks along?"

Yugi nodded, his hopes high. "You're going to help?"

"As best as I can." Kuribayashi looked at Yugi pointedly. "I'm not an obstetrician. You're not a woman. This is completely uncharted territory, and it's going to be dangerous, possibly impossible. You need to realize you're going to be massively high risk, and you'll have to take many steps to ensure this works. You might have reached your second trimester, and most miscarriages happen in this first, but you have none of the systems for having a baby. It's going to get bigger and heavier and you're going to have a lot of problems. There's no pretending this isn't going to be the most dangerous thing you've probably ever done in your life."

tbc…